High School

Palladino: Cross wins golf state title With VIDEO report BY JOE PALLADINO REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Standing on the eighth tee at Timberlin, Holy Cross golf coach John Egan first realized that his team had a chance.

As he watched teams come through, especially the sharpshooters from Weston, Egan saw opposing players hitting shots, and making birdies and par savers. But as his guys tossed out their scores to him, and as he looked over the scorecard of senior Jon Gallo, Egan said, "That's when I knew we could do this."

And the Crusaders, indeed, did it. The sensational Holy Cross team aggregate score of 309, which is 21 over par at the par 72 Timberlin, edged Weston (311) by two shots.

For the first time since 1996, the Crusaders were state golf champions.

"This is big," Egan said, finally relieved of the tension. "These are hard to win."

The Crusaders were undaunted by the challenge. Cross went through the regular season 14-0, won the NVL tourney with a sensational 303, followed by the equally impressive 309 Monday.

"Honestly, I don't even know what to think," said Gallo. "I'm just too excited right now. I don't know if I've ever been this excited about a sporting event in my life. We finally got it done."

Cross played its best when it mattered most, and as Gallo noted, "I guess we just live up to the challenge."

They did across the board. Senior Jay Hogan had an even par 72, with key birdies at Nos. 4 and 7, which was Cross' back nine. Freshman Chandler Morris was 2 over 74, and sophomore Preston Shortell added a 78. All three earned all-state honors.

"We were able to put four good scores in," Hogan said. "That's the toughest part. Golf is usually an individual game, but for this it takes a team score."

The forth score belonged to Gallo, an 85, while the fifth card was an 86 from Austin Smith. Smith's 86 was tossed out, and that means that Gallo, who was 9 over after nine holes, played a huge role in the title, thanks to clutch birdies on Nos. 3 and 5.

"The one player who wanted it most for us was Jon Gallo," Hogan said. "He played good for us when we needed him. Out of everyone on the team, I am most happy for him."

"We all did come together, especially at end of season," Morris said. "We had three scores in the 70s today. We had a very good showing."

The D-III title was a draining experience. The first groups went out before 8 a.m., but were taken off the course by the sixth hole because of heavy rains. After an hour delay, play resumed, and Cross and the three other schools in the final groups, Weston, Ellington (325) and Lewis MIlls (326), the defending champs, were sent off the 10th tee to move the event along.

Cross had to wait for nearly two hours after it finished to know if the championship was secure. That wasn't until nearly 6 p.m., or 10 hours after play began.

One player who was focused on this championship even at the first NVL match of the season was Shortell, who said then that a state title was within Cross' grasp.

"We knew we were going to be good," Shortell said. "We thought we'd contend for a state title, but this is crazy. This is awesome."

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